LAWRENCEBURG, Tenn. – Several Middle Tennessee school districts closed early Thursday due to flooding.

Wayne County School District dismissed at 10:15 a.m., while Lawrence County School District closed at 12 noon.

Dr. Bill Heath, the Lawrence County Director of Schools, told News 2 that any flooding was cause for concern.

“We have 78 bus routes, a lot of them out in rural areas with low water bridges,” said Heath, “so anytime it rains like it has been, we monitor the situation closely. I just had a report right now in the south end of the county of some flooding, so we made the right call and it's based on safety and security.”

Parents at New Prospect Elementary School in Lawrenceburg like Lisa Keener say they don't mind changing their plans on short notice.

“I know when I was a kid in school it was hard for the school buses sometimes to get around,” said Keener. “So I think when there's snow and rain and ice and stuff like that it's a good idea for them to dismiss, for the health and safety of the kids and the teachers and the community itself.”

The Smith County School District dismissed two hours early.

Despite extensive flooding in southern Rutherford County near Christiana, Rutherford County Schools did not let out early.

Schools' spokesperson James Evans said officials decided school was the safest place for the students to be.

He told News 2 buses are running as usual but drivers will take alternate routes around flooded roadways if need be.

Parents can also make arrangements to come and pick up their children at school.

Evans said a decision about Friday had not yet been made.

Daylong rain in September is rare in Tennessee and a National Weather Service forecaster calls a week of it “very unusual.”

September and October are usually the dryer months of the year.

Rain is in the forecast for Middle Tennessee for the rest of the week with at least a 70% chance Thursday and Friday.

The rain chances do slacken a little for the weekend, down to a 50% chance on both Saturday and Sunday.